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Two Marty’s and their behavior and Oilers Need for a Change

Here are few more NHL notes that I didn’t get to add to my last post, enjoy!

Marty Brodeur and Marty St Louis have shown their dismal side in their old hockey age. These players wanted to be traded at the deadline, one got his wish, the other didn’t. The one who got his wish was Marty St Louis and was traded to the New York Rangers while, Brodeur didn’t get his wish and was not traded.

The Devils have given Brodeur anything and everything he wanted, I mean they used their last draft pick to draft his own son! He wanted to get traded, so he could be a starter for a contender somewhere else. (OH REALLY, cause so many contending teams need a starting goaltender) In the end he didn’t get the trade he wanted. With not getting what he wants he has now started to complain about the franchise who made him a star, which makes him look like a real star going into the summer and free agency period.

As for the other Marty, after originally being an Olympic snub, it was announced that he wanted to be traded from the team, then he made the team, because of the Stamkos injury and then won a gold medal. You would think something that would shut him up, nope he still wanted out, not only that he only wanted to go to the Rangers. In the end he got his wish, the Lightning traded him to the Rangers for Ryan Callahan for a first round pick in 2015 and a conditional second round pick in 2014.

What bugs me is that like Brodeur, St Louis was also given everything, he won awards, he won a cup, he carried this team this year to a playoff spot while Stamkos was down, but turned his back on them when they need him the most. For a deep run in the playoffs the Lightning need a guy like St Louis, hopefully Callahan can do that for them.

So there you have it two guys who are future hall of famers who have both acted childishly, because they wanted their own way. When they retire I will most likely remember them for this, as opposed to their great hockey skill and that’s a shame.

The other night while the Edmonton Oilers were getting beaten 8-1, by their Arch rivals the Calgary Flames, a fan threw his jersey as an act of protest and anger and honestly, I don’t blame him. It was funny seeing Ben Scrivens throwing the jersey back into the stands and I understand why he did it, but at the same time Scrivens needs to understand that for eight long years the Oilers have been “rebuilding” and they still haven’t been successful and the fans are finally reaching their breaking point.

I mean how sad is it really, when it’s going to take the Oilers 8 plus years to finally make the playoffs, while it might take the Flames less time to rebuild. This idea of tanking and drafting to make a winner doesn’t always work. Chicago and Pittsburgh are both special cases and if you want a model on what not to do the Oilers are the best model around. When you essentially draft forwards who are pretty much the same type of forward, and you ignore the rest of your needs like defense, goalies, bottom sick forwards who can make an impact etc. you won’t get much success and that’s where the Oilers are right now.

Its time to make a change and I don’t mean the GM, I’m talking about you Kevin Lowe, if the owner doesn’t have the pills to fire you then step down, the glory days of the 80’s are long gone and it seems like the Oilers management hasn’t gotten the memo. Hopefully this team can be fixed before it’s too late and all their talented forwards decide to leave and look for work elsewhere.

The Playoffs are just around the corner and two teams have already clinched a spot, the Boston Bruins and the St. Louis Blues, with the Blackhawks, Ducks and Penguins not too far behind. So I have a question for you, who would you also like to see in the playoffs? Personally I would love to see the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Winnipeg Jets make it, although the Jets odds have gotten slimmer since their last loss.

As it stands in the Eastern Conference the two-wildcard spots are being held by Toronto and Detroit, with Washington, Columbus and technically New Jersey looking to grab one of the final spots. As for the Western Conference wildcard, the Minnesota Wild and the Pheonix Coyotes hold the last two spots with Dallas, Vancouver and Winnipeg breathing down their backs. With roughly 10-12 games left on the schedule for these teams, it will be an interesting couple of weeks of hockey.

Thanks for reading, you follow me on twitter for updates@NVincelli. Please feel free to let me know who you want to see in the NHL Playoffs!\